Method of preparing supported catalysts

ABSTRACT

Metal vapor may be deposited on catalyst supports to produce supported catalysts. This process allows deposition deep in the pores of the catalyst support without the impregnation problems of liquid phase deposition of catalytic material on porous catalyst supports.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to preparation of supported catalysts and the supported catalysts prepared.

Supported catalysts are used to increase reaction rates over uncatalyzed reactions and/or obtain reaction products different from those produced in uncatalyzed reactions.

Solid catalysts react on their surface. Increased catalytic effect for a given amount of a catalyst can be accomplished by increasing the surface area of the catalytic material. One method to increase the surface area is to change the shape of the catalytic material. A more effective method of increasing the surface area of a catalyst is decreasing the size of the catalyst particles (and thereby increasing the number of catalyst particles). This method utilizes scaling factors. The surface area of a particle is proportional to the square of the particle's linear dimension (such as diameter). The amount or weight of the particle is proportional to the cube of the linear dimension. Therefore, the surface area of a given fixed amount of a catalytic material is proportional to the reciprocal of the linear dimension provided the shape of the particles remain constant.

Generally, smaller catalyst particles have a larger specific surface area thereby allowing the use of a smaller mass of catalyst for the same catalytic effect. However, small catalytic particles are expensive to remove from most systems. Therefore, the use of a catalyst support, which is large relative to the catalytic particles to which small catalytic particles are affixed, allows use of small particles of a catalytic material without creating the problem of removal of small catalytic particles.

The catalytic particles must be affixed to the surface of catalyst support in order to have catalytic effect. Many methods of affixing the catalytic particles to the surface of the catalyst support's surface are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,709 discusses the process of mashing soft particles onto a relatively hard substrate.

To increase the surface area of the catalyst support, without reducing the size of the support, a porous support is used. In order to use this increased surface area, the catalytic particles must be deposited on the inside of the pores of the catalyst support.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,611 discusses a process of spraying an acetone suspension of small catalytic particles onto support particles, then drying the acetone to leave catalytic particles on the support.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,350 discusses a process of vaporizing a vaporizable fluid of a suspension of solid alkali metal particles in a vaporizable fluid to attach the catalytic particles to the catalyst support.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,947 discusses a process of depositing a sodium metal on a catalyst support by high speed stirring (10,000 rpm) of sodium, a high boiling hydrocarbon and potassium at an elevated temperature.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,226 discusses a process of plasma arc spraying of catalytic material upon a catalyst support.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,285 discusses a process of atomizing a water solution of catalyst ions, applying the atomized solution to moving catalyst supports, and then drying and heat treating the wetted supports.

All of the aforementioned processes lack the ability to deposit catalytic particles deep into the pores of a catalyst support.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,844 discusses a "suspension method" for forming supported catalysts which involves mixing a suspension of silver oxide with the support. After the suspension is thus deposited on the support, the catalyst is activated. As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,844, this method produces a supported catalyst which readily loses catalytic particles. The process also has trouble depositing catalytic particles deep in the pores of the support.

Another method of depositing metals on supports is known as the "impregnation method". Generally, the support is impregenated or coated with a solution of the salt of the metal or metals to be employed. This is followed by drying and a subsequent reduction.

Although the reducing step can be a thermal reduction in the presence of air or an inert gas (U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,123), hydrogen and hydrazine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,888) have also been employed for the reduction. Reducing agents in the form of organic compounds have been added to the catalyst, either by simultaneous application to the support or subsequent addition to the impregnated metal salts. Also reducing compounds have been known to be employed by incorporating them into the support prior to the addition of the catalytic component. While the solvent used to apply the reducing agent is frequently water, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,259, organic solvents also have been employed, as for example, ethylene carbonate, dimethyl formamide and dimethyl sulfoxide as, solvents for the polyacrylonitrile in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,679.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,679, the use of non-solvents to precipitate a polymer from solution onto the support is indicated and is illustrated by the use of methanol and toluene. This method disadvantageously requires the preparation of a salt solution, impregnation of a support (if porous support is used) with the solution, drying of the impregnated support and reduction of the deposited salt. At times special care is needed to remove an undesirable counterion such as chloride. Some ions such as zinc are difficult to reduce and usually are present in the supported catalyst as zinc oxide or zinc (II). For example, the reduction potential of Zn⁺² to Zn° is -0.76 v and that of ZnO₂ to Zn° is -1.22 v.

It would be desirable to have a process which avoids the multiple steps of the "impregnation method" and the loose binding of the "suspension method", and yet has the ability to deposit catalytic material deep into pores of porous catalyst supports and has the ability to deposit materials which are hard to reduce onto catalyst supports.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention is the process for forming a supported metal. The process comprises:

(a) generating metallic vapor by heating zero valent metal to a temperature sufficient to generate at least about 0.25 atmospheres of metallic vapor; and

(b) contacting the metallic vapor with a support under conditions sufficient to deposit the metallic vapor onto the support thereby forming a supported metal, providing the heated zero valent metal is not in contact with the support.

In a second aspect, the invention is the catalyst formed by the preceding process providing the deposited metallic vapor is a metal with an oxidation potential of at least about 0.4 v.

Supported catalysts produced by the process of this invention are useful in a wide variety of processes such as converting alkylenes into their oxides and cracking hydrocarbons.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

For the purposes of this invention, deposition of the metallic vapor onto the support can occur in two ways: condensation of the metallic vapor onto the porous catalyst support or reaction of the metallic vapor with the catalyst support.

Preferably, the zero valent metal produces a metallic vapor having a condensation temperature below about 2000 K., or a mixture of such metals. Preferably, only one zero valent metal is used. The metals comprising the mixture of metals may be separately heated to a temperature sufficient to generate appreciable metallic vapor. More preferable metals include sodium, potassium, lithium, zinc, cadmium and magnesium. Most preferable is zinc.

For the purposes of this invention, condensation temperature of the metallic vapor means the gaseous-liquid equilibrium temperature of the metallic vapor at one atmosphere of pressure.

Any support which can be suitably employed in making supported catalysts by conventional methods may be used. Porous supports are preferred. More preferred are SiO₂, SiC, TiO₂, BaTiO₃, Al₂ O₃, carbon black and zeolites. Most preferred is SiO₂. Chapters 4-7 and 9 of Physical and Chemical Aspects of Adsorbents and Catalysts by B. G. Linsen, Academic Press, New York, N.Y. (1970), contain a detailed discussion of supports and their preparation and are now incorporated by reference.

Preferably, the support particles have diameters between about 0.15 mm and about 15 mm. More preferably, the support particles have diameters greater than about 0.4 mm. More preferably, the support particles have diameters smaller than about 10 mm. Preferably, the support particles have porosities between about 0.01 cc/g of support and about 3.5 cc/g of support. More preferably, the support particles have porosities greater than about 0.1 cc/g of support. More preferably, the support particles have porosities less than about 1.0 cc/g of support. Preferably, the support particles have average BET surface areas between about 0.01 m² /g of support and about 700 m² /g of support. More preferably, the average surface area is greater than about 0.1 m² /g of support. More preferably, the average surface area is less than about 600 m² /g of support.

The vapor and catalyst support may be contacted in any manner that produces a supported metal, providing the heated zero valent metal and the support are not in contact. Preferred are two methods of contacting the metallic vapor and the support: diffusion contact and carrier-assisted contact.

The diffusion method comprises several steps. First, the zero valent metal and the support are placed into a container, in such a manner that they will not contact each other. Second, the container is sealed. Third, the container is heated to a temperature sufficient to generate appreciable metallic vapor. The metallic vapor will diffuse throughout the sealed container and contact the support. The container may be flushed with an essentially unreactive gas such as helium prior to sealing the container. The container may be operated at pressures above about 0.25 atmospheres. The pressure of the container is largely determined by the temperature of the container. Preferably, the pressure is between about 5 atmospheres and about 0.5 atmosphere. More preferably, the pressure is less than about 2 atmospheres. Preferably, the temperature of the container is less than about 100 K. above the condensation temperature of the metallic vapor, more preferably less than about 50 K. above the condensation temperature of the metallic vapor and most preferably less than about 20 K. above the condensation temperature of the metallic vapor. Typically, the condensation temperature of the metallic vapor is between about 300 K. and about 2000 K. Preferably, the container is a stainless steel tube with stainless steel caps. In using such a preferred container, a suitable separatory material such as quartz wool can be used to keep the support from contacting the zero valent metal. The separatory material should be present in an amount sufficient to prevent contact between the zero valent metal and the support, but insufficient to prevent sufficient contact between the metallic vapor and support to form a supported metal.

For the purposes of this invention, the term essentially unreactive means does not react to an appreciable degree, preferably less than about 10 mole percent of the amount present reacts, more preferably less than about 5 mole percent of the amount present reacts, and most preferably less than about 1 mole percent of the amount present reacts.

The container can be any container which can contain the zero valent metal while being at a temperature above the condensation temperature of the metallic vapor. Preferred is a stainless steel container.

The carrier assisted method of contact is similar to the diffusion method except the container is equipped with means to introduce an essentially unreactive carrier gas to assist the contact between the metallic vapor and the support. The carrier gas contacts the heated metal prior to contacting the support. Preferably, the carrier gas is preheated to the temperature of the container. Preferably, the reactor is a vertical cylinder loaded from the bottom toward the top with separatory material, zero valent metal, separatory material, catalyst support and separatory material. The separatory material is any material which will allow metallic vapor and carrier gas to pass but not allow zero valent metal or catalyst support to pass. Preferred separatory materials are quartz wool and quartz beads. More preferred is quartz wool. The container is preferably heated to less than about 100 K. above the condensation temperature of the metallic vapor, more preferably less than about 50 K. above the condensation temperature and most preferably less than about 20 K. above the condensation temperature. The pressure is established by the carrier gas and the metallic vapor. Suitable pressure are above about 0.25 atmospheres. Preferable pressures are between about 5 atmospheres and about 1 atmosphere. Most preferable pressures are about 1 atmosphere. The carrier-assisted method of contact is most preferred.

The contact is for a time sufficient to allow formation of a supported metal. Preferably, the contact time is less than about 10 hours, more preferably less than about 5 hours and most preferably less than about 2 hours.

Typically, the support particles are at a temperature between about 100° C. and about 1500° C. during the contact. Preferably, the support particles are at a temperature above about 200° C. Preferably, the support particles are at a temperature below about 1200° C. Typically, the space velocity of the carrier gas is between about 0.03 hr⁻¹ and about 3,000 hr⁻¹. Preferably, the space velocity is greater than about 0.3 hr⁻¹. Preferably, the space velocity is less than about 300 hr⁻¹.

The supported vapor may be treated in any desirable manner such as reduction with hydrogen, addition of promoters, regeneration, conversion of the supported metal into a supported catalyst and the like.

A preferred method of conversion of the supported metal into a supported catalyst comprises contacting the supported metal with a solution containing one or more metallic ions which will electrodeposit on the support, thereby liberating ions of the supported metal. The solvent of the solution may be any essentially unreactive liquid which will form a solution with the desired metallic ion. More preferably only one metallic ion which will electrodeposit is present in the solution. The most preferred method is that when the supported metal is zinc, the support is silica and the electrodeposited metal is silver.

The loading of the supported metal can vary widely. Useful loading ranges for particular metals and catalyst supports may be determined by experimentation. Loadings expressed as weight percent in this patent are weight percent of the supported metal based on the weight of the support and the supported metal combined. However, generally loading between about 0.05 weight percent and about 40 weight percent are preferred. Loadings between about 0.1 weight percent and about 29 weight percent are more preferred. Loadings between about 0.1 weight percent and about 10 weight percent are most preferred.

The catalysts prepared by this process are preferably those which cannot be prepared by other techniques, such as those using a metal with an oxidation potential of at least about 0.4 v, more preferably at least about 0.7 v and most preferably at least about 1.0 v. Preferred metals are Zn, Cd, Na, Mg, Li, K and Be with Zn and Cd being more preferred metals and Zn being the most preferred metal.

The supported catalysts produced by this process may be used in manners similar to the use of conventional supported catalysts.

The invention is further illustrated by the following nonlimiting examples. In the following examples, all the supports are particles with diameters between about 0.4 mm and about 0.9 mm.

EXAMPLE 1

A 0.5 inch round, stainless steel inert reactor is loaded from bottom to top as follows: 3/8 inch of quartz wool, 20.0 g of dried silica, 3/8 inch of quartz wool, 6.5 g of zinc particles (Zn°) and 3/8 inch of quartz wool. The reactor is heated to 920° C. in a muffel furnace. The reactor is kept at 920° C. for 90 minutes using a downward nitrogen carrier gas flow wherein the nitrogen is preheated to 925° C. The reactor is then cooled to room temperature. The cooled silica (supported vapor) is removed from the reactor and is placed in about 0.100 liter of a 1.0M silver nitrate solution instantly turning from gray to black.

EXAMPLES 2-7

Example 1 is repeated with the reactor between 950° C. and 1000° C. and without a carrier gas. The supported silver catalyst is placed in boiling concentrated nitric acid and the resulting silver ions are detected through absorption spectroscopy. The results are reported in Tables I and II.

                  TABLE I                                                          ______________________________________                                                                          Supported                                     Example Support      Support Color                                                                              Zn Color                                      ______________________________________                                         2       SiO.sub.2 (16 m.sup.2 /g)                                                                   white       white                                         3       SiO.sub.2 (600 m.sup.2 /g)                                                                  white       light gray                                    4       SiC          dark black  dark gray                                     5       TiO.sub.2    white       black                                         6       BaTiO.sub.3  white       gray                                          7       Al.sub.2 O.sub.3                                                                            white       gray                                          ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE II                                                         ______________________________________                                                               Weight % Ag in Supported                                                       Ag Catalyst Based on                                     Example Supported Ag Color                                                                           Total Catalyst Weight                                    ______________________________________                                         2       dark brown    1.01                                                     3       dark brown    0.43                                                     4       black/silver specks                                                                          0.25                                                     5       black         0.35                                                     6       dark gray     1.01                                                     7       white/silver specks                                                                          0.69                                                     ______________________________________                                    

From the weight percent silver, the weight percent zinc which reacted with the silver ions can be calculated. This is a minimum amount of zinc which was deposited on the support. The results of the calculation are shown in Table III.

                  TABLE III                                                        ______________________________________                                                  Weight % Zn in Supported Zn Catalyst                                  Example  Based on Total Catalyst Weight                                        ______________________________________                                         2        1.42                                                                  3        0.52                                                                  4        0.30                                                                  5        0.42                                                                  6        1.22                                                                  7        0.84                                                                  ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 8

Example 3 is repeated using cadmium in place of zinc. The support is white, the supported cadmium vapor is gray and the supported catalyst is dark brown, with a loading of 0.75 weight percent silver.

EXAMPLE 9

Example 3 is repeated using a nitrogen carrier gas. The support is white, the supported zinc is gray and the supported silver is black with a loading of 1.85 weight percent silver.

EXAMPLE 10

Example 9 is repeated with a carbon catalyst support. The support and supported zinc and silver are all black. The supported silver has a loading of 1.82 weight percent silver.

EXAMPLE 11

Metallic zinc (0.5126 g) (powder) is placed in a 3/4-inch stainless steel reactor with Swagelok end caps. Vycor chips are then packed into the reactor and 5.1101 g of 16 M² /g SiO₂ is then placed so that the Vycor chips keep the zinc from contacting the SiO₂. The reactor is flooded with nitrogen and the reactor is sealed. The sealed reactor is heated to 970° C. in an oven with a nitrogen atmosphere for 2 hours. The heated reactor is removed and cooled in a dessicator overnight. The supported vapor is removed from the cooled reactor in a glove bag. The supported vapor is stirred in 0.300 liters (L) of water containing 1.9368 g of silver lactate for one hour.

EXAMPLE 12

A 16-g sample of the supported catalyst of Example 1 is washed with water three times and acetone once, then is dried at 100° C. in air. This dried catalyst is placed between two glass wool plugs to create a 3- to 4-inch reaction zone in a 5/8-inch (9.5 mm) inner diameter, stainless steel reactor. The catalyst is conditioned by passing a preheated, premixed feed consisting essentially of about 68 mole percent propylene, about 29 mole percent oxygen and about 3 mole percent water through the catalyst at a temperature of about 150° C. to about 180° C. and a pressure of about 1 atmosphere and a flow rate of about 30 cc/minute until the selectivity to propylene oxide stabilizes (typically about 5 days). The dried supported catalyst converts 0.78 percent propylene at 180° C. with a selectivity of 21 volume percent to propylene oxide based on propylene. The by-products are carbon dioxide and water. The specific epoxidation rate is 4.85.

Examples 1 through 11 illustrate various embodiments of the invention. Example 12 illustrates the use of a catalyst formed by the invented process. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for forming a supported metal catalyst comprising: (a) generating metallic vapor by heating zero valent metal to a temperature sufficient to generate at least about 0.25 atmospheres of metallic vapor; (b) contacting the metallic vapor with a support under conditions sufficient to deposit the metallic vapor onto the support thereby forming a first supported metal, providing the heated zero valent metal is not in contact with the support; and (c) contacting the first supported metal with a solution containing silver ions which will electrodeposit on the support, thereby liberating ions of the first supported metal and forming a supported silver catalyst.
 2. The process of claim 1 in which the zero valent metal produces a metallic vapor having a condensation temperature below about 2000 K., or a mixture of such metals.
 3. The process of claim 2 in which only one zero valent metal is used.
 4. The process of claim 3 in which the zero valent metal is selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, lithium, zinc, cadmium and magnesium.
 5. The process of claim 4 in which the zero valent metal is zinc.
 6. The process of claim 1 in which the first supported metal is zinc and the support is silica.
 7. The process of claim 1 in which the contact of the metallic vapor with the support is with the diffusion method.
 8. The process of claim 1 in which the contact of the metallic vapor with the support is with the carrier-assisted method.
 9. The process of claim 1 in which the catalyst support is SiO₂, SiC, TiO₂, TaTiO₃, Al₂ O₃, carbon black or a zeolite.
 10. The process of claim 9 in which the catalyst support is SiO₂.
 11. The process of claim 1 in which the supported catalyst has a loading between about 0.05 weight percent and about 40 weight percent.
 12. The process of claim 11 in which the supported catalyst has a loading between about 0.1 weight percent and about 10 weight percent.
 13. The process of claim 1 in which the supported catalyst has an average particle size between about 0.15 mm and about 15 mm.
 14. The process of claim 8 in which the metallic vapor comprises between a mole fraction of about 0.001 and about 1.0 of the carrier gas-metallic vapor stream.
 15. The process of claim 1 in which the support has a porosity between about 0.01 cc/g and about 3.5 cc/g of a support.
 16. The process of claim 8 in which the temperature is between about 100° C. and about 1500° C. and the space velocity of carrier gas through the support is between about 0.03 hr⁻¹ and about 3,000 hr⁻¹.
 17. The process of claim 1 in which the catalyst support has an average BET surface area between 0.01 m² /g. and about 700 m² /g.
 18. The catalyst formed by the process of claim
 1. 19. The catalyst of claim 18 wherein the first supported metal is zinc and the support is silica. 